ITR filing deadline for companies extended again

New Delhi: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended the due date for businesses to file their income tax returns (ITRs) and audit reports for 2017-18 to 31 October. The move to give companies extra time through a second extension of the due date was taken based on representations from various stakeholders, the CBDT said in a statement. Earlier, the board had extended the ITR filing deadline of 30 September to 15 October.

However, the fresh extension applies only for ITR filing, not for remitting taxes, for which the deadline remains 30 September. Businesses filing any tax dues after the original due date, but during the period of the extended due date, would be liable to pay interest, the CBDT statement clarified.

The extension of the ITR filing deadline would be helpful to businesses for reconciling sales figures and the tax liability reported in the goods and service tax (GST) returns with their financial statements, experts said. This is the first instance of businesses filing their ITRs (for 2017-18) after the GST was rolled out in July 2017.

For 2018-19, the government has set a direct tax collection target of ₹ 11.5 trillion, a jump of 14.6% over the ₹ 10 trillion collected last fiscal year.